September is almost over....

It has been a while since my last post. I tend to only post updates on Facebook lately. sorry.

I have been sick all week. Our yard sale went well, we made $200. We also rolled all our change and that amounted to $300 (half is in US $$).... $500 in one weekend, not bad. We went out and bought a new piece of furniture and solar lights with some of the money :)

We have our housewarming party planned for late October. I am very excited to have friends and family visit! It will be interesting to see just how many people make it as it is a 3.5 hour drive (minimum) for pretty much everyone.

Bruce and I joined Goodlife. It is an all inclusive membership: classes (yoga, aerobics, aquafit), use of pool and sauna, huge weight room, cardio room, cycling classes. We haven't been yet as we have both been so sick. we got free gifts for joining: duffle bag, baseball hat, flip flops, tshirt, Cd's, coupons etc.... the memberships are good at all locations,which I like. There are two in North Bay- one is women only, the other is coed.

Bruce bought a bicycle so we will be starting to bike too! I now have a new bike basket (much needed for grocery shopping) and a helmet (which Bruce decided I MUST wear, lol).

I read this article today, and loved it! I am a strong believer in forgiveness :)

It is sooo beautiful here with all the leaves changing colors. Will take a picture soon and post it :)

ying and yang

curtains....finally!

You would think that because I am not working that I would have so much free time to post blogs. I feel busy. Bruce leaves early and comes home by 3pm. I get up and putter, then shower, sometimes bike to the grocery store, clean a bit, bake or cook.... before you know it Bruce is home and I am making dinner. We go to bed really early.

The weekend of Sept 13/14th is going to be our HUGE yard sale. We have half our spare room full of stuff to sell. We even have some of Jodie's things to sell. We are going to have our housewarming party at the end of October. Bruce has a new work schedule and is only off every 3rd weekend. so we want to alternate his weekends off and stay in North Bay for one of them, and then go to Ottawa for the next one. So I will get home every 6 weeks, which will be nice.

I am ridiculously happy. I *love* being here with Bruce. He is the absolute perfect match for me. My yang :) I am his ying..... I cannot imagine him not being in my life. ever.

Isabelle's Outdoor Adventures

She LOVES it outside!!!!

Silver Beach

this is the beautiful beach that is literally at the end of my street.

Life here is pretty peaceful.

I have applied for UI. I am looking for work in the meantime. and trying to decide what to do next..... start a business, go back to school (they have a fabulous 2 year fulltime course at the college that I would love to take!!!), or just get a job doing whatever. I have no idea. Perhaps getting a parttime job AND starting my own business on the side might be a good option. Also I have been looking into government programs that help you start a business!!! that would be awesome.

I am really enjoying being here. I love being with Bruce everyday. We get along really well. We laugh a lot. Right now we have a deal- if I watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy Bruce will watch the 5 hour version of Pride and Prejudice AND the new 2 hour version. Right now we have gotten through the 1st LOTR and almost half of the 5 hour version of P&P.

And no, life is not perfect all the time. most of the time though :) we have stuff to work through, miscommunications, bad moods and the sort to work through like everyone else. We seem to be able to communicate though and find resolutions quickly and bounce right back to our happy selves. We are the best of friends. We have a very peaceful relationship.

Next on our agenda will be having a huge yard sale, housewarming parties, and Jodie is visiting this weekend- we are going beach hopping AND there is a "corn festival" going on Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market downtown.

in the middle of nowhere....

the move went well. I love it here. the house is fabulous. we have apples on one of our apple trees :) there are kids everywhere and everyone owns a dog! very different than the neighbourhood I used to live in. All of our neighbours are very friendly. A couple of them stopped by. One of them brought up baked goods! we had a house full of kids. at times it does feel as though we are so far away from city life- a bit of culture shock. the area we live in is near the lakeshore and has a beachy feel- lots of motels and beaches and laid back feel. The cats seem to love it here. I cannot wait to have people visit!!!!! It has been crazy to not have internet for 2 weeks. I will post more tomorrow- plus pictures!!!!

p.s my life is pretty much this right now: baking, cooking, decorating, and lots of "honeymoon-type" X rated goings on ;) it is a sweet life. I wish I never had to go back to work. I feel so happy and peaceful right now......

Going Away Dinner

I had a small going away dinner at Mexi's on Dow's Lake. 10 people. It was nice. A coworker bought us a small bottle of champagne and another coworker bought us art, we got a couple of cards. Dinner was delicious.

Here is a group shot of most of our dept (Mas/ L&F)... These are the people I work closely with on a daily basis. I will miss them all so much!!!

It was so nice to have Bruce with me the past few days.I had not seen him for 2 months and he ended up showing up a couple of days early and staying an extra night. We ended up having 4 nights together :) The next time I see him will be in 4 or 5 days and then everyday after that- forever and ever and ever :)

Bruce and I walked home after dinner. We walked along the canal for a bit and I took this picture.

This week is going to be busy, emotional, overwhelming, and incredibly exciting.

My last day of work is Wednesday!

craziness!

My life is crazy right now. I have been sooooo busy. so much to do. In the past few days I have done baking, had a yard sale, went to Orleans 3 times (laundry, shopping, dinner), cleaned my apt, packed a little, did groceries, had dinner at Jodie's, worked...... In the next few days I will be working, packing, going to the dentist, going out for dinner twice. Lots of going away dinners.

....Bruce might be coming to Ottawa Saturday!!! He is driving from Tacoma. He is in Des Moines, Iowa right now. I have not seen him in almost 2 months. I miss him so much. I am sad and emotional to be leaving my life, my friends, my family. I have created a life that I love and I know I will miss it. I am excited for all the new adventures. It is hard. Change is scary. I know things will be wonderful. I try hard not to think too much about all the unknowns. It is hard to be doing all of this alone, having not seen Bruce in so so long. What has made it even harder is that Bruce is going through the same thing with him leaving Tacoma and we are both in an emotional and sad state of mind..... With Bruce driving across the US right now we are not talking much at all. Work is crazy. which is an understatement!!!! I have 4 more shifts.......

I bought the PC Green Cleaning Putty (it is solid and comes with a sponge) and I LOVE it. It looks like it will last a long long time, it makes everything really shiny and there is no harsh smell. It makes stainless steel look brand new. I highly recommend this stuff! If you use too much it can be grainy and need a lot of rinsing- so use just a little.... it is great for getting marks off walls too. and you can use it on your floors as well. I *love* PC products!!!

calm

Just looking at this picture makes me feel calm. I love water.

VERY EXCITING!!!

Look what I found in downtown Ottawa :)

mmmmmm....I love Vitamin Water.

It is FINALLY here and getting popular.

I have been waiting years!

my life lately...

...is consumed by by never ending to-do list. I have not even started to pack and I move in a few weeks. Work is like something out of HELL. Summers in an animal shelter are HARD. and very very sad. By the time I get time off I am so burnt out emotionally and mentally that it is hard to even think about what I need to do.

Bruce and I had our first fight. Big fight. I was ANGRY. and hurt, upset.... but we have made up now :) 1 fight in 5+months is not too bad. The hardest part is to have to resolve things on the phone and to not be able to hug him now that things are better. That is extremely frustrating. The good thing about it was that I was/am confident that whatever comes up we will be able to resolve and it will make us stronger. I am passionate. and emotional. I do NOT keep my emotions to myself. I get them out, deal with them, and then move on. I think it is healthier than keeping everything in. If I am mad or upset YOU WILL KNOW. I am unable to hide it. In a way it is kind of nice that the "first fight" is out of the way.

This weekend....I am going to start packing, I have a "date" with Diana to go to the Keg, I will do some errands (buy more of my RX, contact lenses...etc) and then monday hopefully I will get a new OHIP card.

I am reading a great book "Do" .... check it out. I want to read the other 2 as well, "Be" and "Faith". jodie and I were having a bad day a couple of days ago and decided to go to a couple of bookstores. We had fun. and laughed a lot. I find books very therapeutic. I thought since my whole life is changing right now I could use a book to encourage me to be strong and do things differently. Re-invent myself I suppose. I should be meditating to keep myself centered.

Here are some more whitewater rafting pics......

signing the waivers....

the guides

all of the rafting teams

and the lovely bus!

fun!

success. adrenaline.

these are the pics that the rafting company took. A guy kayaked everywhere photographing us and taking video.

this is the big one...

this is where 3 of us fell out

notice the legs outside the boat. SCARY!

we are in there somewhere. waiting to be spit out of the whirlpool. drowning.

to-do list

I have so much to do. It is insane.

Today I am TRYING to get organized. I have a calendar and I am scheduling everything. Today I called: OHIP, ordered more contact lenses, made Dr. appt, dentist appt.... all things I need to do while I am still in Ottawa and still have medical insurance through work. I need to reserve a moving truck. So I should call them too. The tricky part is that my friend Jodie is driving the truck and I do not have a credit card. Jodie does. AKKK. I have money though. I have not started packing. yet. I have reserved 2 weekends on my calendar to pack- that should be more than enough!

I went to see The Strangers last night. SCARY. Loved it. Did I mention it was SCARY? omg....I had my sweater up around my face through the entire movie. I actually screamed OUT LOUD at one part and jumped several times.

One of these days I have to buy the kids a much nicer/bigger scratching post!

They do LOVE this one though!

I have been nicotine free for over 3 weeks. And I made it through my first cycle of birth control pills.

I gave in my letter of resignation at work. I gave almost 5 weeks notice.

I received my 5 years of service gift at work- a card with a note written by our executive director and a $50 Keg giftcard :)

I have 19 days of work left!!!!

I better go. lots to do.......

Esprit Rafting Adventure

I went white water rafting yesterday. It was so nice to spend the entire day outdoors. The picture above was the scariest set of rapids that we did. Only 5% of rafters ever get to do this one as the water levels have to be exactly right.

Going over the waterfall I was in the front of the raft (kind of like being in the front of the rollercoaster) and then I saw a WALL of water coming at me so fast..... then BAM! So...... in this giant pool of rapids 4 of us fell out of the raft. We all went under. I thought the whole raft capsized. I was pulled under and I couldn't tell if I was under the raft or not, could not make sense of where I was, could not get to the surface, could not see anything except water...... then I got to the surface and kept getting pulled under as it was like a whirlpool and I kept inhaling massive amount of water. I was hyperventilating cause I could not breathe as most of this time I was under water. then one of the guides threw me a rope. I held onto it.... I was now about 100ft now from where I fell in (I fell in where all the WHITE is in the picture above). I kept inhaling water. I could not breathe or catch my breath. All I knew was that I was NOT going to let go of the rope. finally I made it to shore and had to wait until the next raft was in position and then I walked across to another raft and they taxi'd me back to my raft. I stood there feeling pretty shaky.

We were on a 7 person, 14ft raft- much more sporty and punchy

than the bigger, more tradition rafts

also, going in the spring when the water levels are higher gives you bigger waves....

A little shaken up, but still good to go. I think I was in shock, it really did not hit me until later after I processed it. I think I now know what it feels like to drown. You feel pressure from the water, but no pain, confusion, time seems to slow down, you cannot breathe but you cannot process that fact. I could not think or react to what was happening.

Today I think I have a concussion. Last night my pupils were different sizes. I have been abnormally tired since I got home yesterday. Today I had the worst headache. Likely I wacked my head on a rock or with my paddle or someone else. 4 bodies flew out of the raft after going over a waterfall- anything is possible.

I feel as though my entire body was put through a washing machine. I ache from head to toe....my head, face, arms, hands... etc. etc. I have bruises all over.

This was us doing some recreation swimming :) The water was FREEZING. And it is really weird to swim with runners and socks on!

This was my second time white water rafting. Likely I will go again.

Jodie and I/ 60k in the rain

Ottawa River Parkway Bikepath

I biked from my apartment all the way to Moodie Dr/417/Corkstown Rd yesterday. I think it was about 60km. ALMOST to Kanata!!! and we started biking in the pouring rain..... Today I was exhausted.

I move in 6 weeks!

I am VERY excited.

numbers

• 52 days until I move to North Bay
• smoke free (with NO patch) for 10 days (I seriously feel like a junkie....)
• on birth control for 10 days (not recommended to do this at the same time as quitting smoking. I have been incredibly nauseus, tired, emotional, mildly depressed and at times very irritable...)
• number of times I think of Bruce and smile throughout any given day: about a million :)
• number of times I have been to aquafit in the past 3 weeks: once :(

avec glasses :)

mmmmmmuffins

I bought fresh blueberries today and made blueberry lemon muffins. They are delicious!

Isabelle

Bruce is on his way back to Tacoma today. It seemed much more bearable when he was in North Bay because he was close enough that we could drive to see each other, and in the same time zone, not to mention the same country..... It was also really nice because we had long chats on the phone every night :) That is something we don't do very often when he is in Tacoma, mostly due to the time difference and our work schedules. In less than 2 months none of that will be an issue. I cannot wait to move. I am sooooooo excited to start "our life" together. We will be going from 3000 miles apart to living in the same house!!! I am so happy we are skipping the months of long distance dating between Ottawa and North Bay.

:)

Pub Italia

Last night two of my coworkers and I went out for a couple of beers at Pub Italia. All 3 of the beers pictured here were fantastic (2 were raspberry, 1 was strawberry- all VERY different....) I had a raspberry belgium beer that tasted like fruity sparkling champagne. We walked over from my place and hung out for a couple of hours.... They have a "beer bible" with over 200 kinds of beer. It is very impressive. They also have ~36 beers on tap. And the atmosphere is very nice.

tip toe through the tulips

I have given my notice to my landlord (he then asks me if I could put an ad on the internet for him. I said sure!)

I always said "I am not leaving my job until I get my 5 years of service plaque"..... well I get it in June!!! talk about timing. I will have been at the shelter 6.5 years by the time I leave (there is a bit of a delay in getting the award...)

I get a 3.25% raise (back paid to April 1st) which I am quite happy about.

I am so excited to be moving. I am excited to start my new life. To see Bruce every single day. I am ecstatic beyond words. I love him MORE every single day. He really is very very sweet. The next time I see him will be moving day. I have smiled every day since mid January, without fail. A coworker said "you are the happiest person I know. It makes me sick."

The Tulip Festival donated some of the tulips to our shelter. Sue and I spent quite a bit of time cutting the bulbs and organizing a way to dry them out so we can plant them in the fall and make our shelter pretty next year. Also I got to keep some, which I will plant in our yard in North Bay and they will remind me of the shelter, and Ottawa, and Sue.

moving.......

After much discussion we have finally decided on a moving date. July 26-27th. I am soooo excited. but a little overwhelmed. The next time I see Bruce I will be moving into "our house" in North Bay.

Since yesterday I have....
cancelled my cable (all of it).
started taking birth control pills.
quit smoking.

free sunsets!

heart shaped jaccuzi tub

I LOVE this!!!!

our little walk through the woods across from the Inn

the view from outside our hotel room

I loved falling alseep every night next to the fire


a wonderfully fun & relaxing week

I miss him already

It was so hard to leave